November 8, 2024

1971 Monte Carlo Frame Off Restoration

Here We have Carl Gehring’s 71 Monte Carlo, The Car came into us so we could restore the whole frame and related components, and clean up the engine and firewall, without touching the exterior paint of the car.  The First thing we had to do was to disassemble the whole interior and prepare the car to take the body right off the frame so we could really attack all the floors and frame rust and rot we had to deal with.  After we had the interior out, we worked our way up to the front, removing the whole front clip, and getting the car ready to remove the powertrain, and clean and fix the firewall as well as clean and reseal the engine and transmission, that is in perfect working order.  Once we had all the driveline and interior off, we focused on taking the body right off the frame. After Removing a few rusted and broken bolts, we were ready to lift the body right off the frame and really get to work. We started by removing all the old brake and fuel lines, that after 30+ years were shot and brittle, and we began to disassemble the front suspension to replace it for the same reason. Once that was all set, we sent the frame out to be sand blasted, to remove the years of caked on junk, and to get nice clean metal back so we know what were dealing with. A few days later we had the frame and suspension back and we were ready to start the hard work. Years and years of New England winters took its toll on the frame, and it left it with a few spots of thin metal and a few rust holes. Welding has come a long way since this frame was built, so we went over the whole frame, and Boxed the complete center section for much added Strength and durability, This will really help make the car handle, and get traction much better then it did before with the old flimsy frame. A Few days of welding and Fabricating later, and the frame was ready for a nice coat of rust proof black paint to keep the rust from ever  comming back. With all that hard work out of the way, we started to bend up some new Brake And Fuel lines, We chose the coated brake lines since they resist rusting far better then started issue parts, and will insure a long lasting Job. With our lines run, we could start getting to work on the  suspension, Replacing all worn out components, and making the car handle like new. Once that was complete we took our power train, and started to clean and degrease it, and prepare it for fresh paint and gaskets to make sure out nice paint  doesnt get ruined by a leaky motor.  Once we were finished with the engine, we stripped down all of our brackets and accessories and painted them for a like new finish. With all of our parts looking brand new, we dropped our freshly painted power plant in, and started to install everything for the final time. All the hard work payed off and were left with a car that is better then new!

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